Whatever part of the world one lives in, the economic importance of mineral exploitation is evident, even though dramatic structural changes in the mining industry have occurred in the past two decades, leaving large parts of the industrialized world without a significant domestic metal mining industry, despite ever growing consumer demand

About Us

The objective of the International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits (I.A.G.O.D.) is to promote international co-operation in the study of the genesis of ore deposits and to further the growth of knowledge in this field. These tasks are achieved in several ways. International symposia are organized by IAGOD, and a variety of meetings and symposia are held in conjunction with other organizations interested in the genesis of mineral deposits. The association continues to expand its international activities and membership, having members in about 70 countries world-wide

Research into the origin of ore deposits lies at the cornerstone of many sub-disciplines in the geological sciences. The number of methods that can be successfully applied to understand the processes involved in the generation, localization and preservation of economic concentrations of ore minerals continues to grow. High levels of expertise in mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry and structural geology are increasingly needed by those who wish to understand ores. Whatever part of the world one lives in, the economic importance of mineral exploitation is evident, even though dramatic structural changes in the mining industry have occurred in the past two decades, leaving large parts of the industrialized world without a significant domestic metal mining industry, despite ever growing consumer demand.

Although focus may have changed sub-stantially in recent years as a consequence of political actions, including appreciably more research on the environmental effects of mining, ore deposit research has never been more important, as the search for new, undiscovered ore deposits becomes more difficult and costly. Despite the lack of focus on ore geology in some universities, the central role of ore geology is just as evident today, in the 3rd millennium A.D., as ít was in the past. With this, and ever-increasing globalization in mind, good possibilities for international collaboration are more important than ever before to all scientists whose goal is to understand how and why ore deposits are formed.

Nigel Cook, IAGOD President

International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits (IAGOD)

40 Years since the creation of IAGOD

The creation and development of the IAGOD proceeded in three stages:

Stage No.1. Establishment of the Provisional Commission on the Genesis of Ore Deposits.

​ This Commission was established at the spontaneous wish of about 300 participants at the international symposium “Problems of Postmagmatic Ore Deposition”, held in Prague, Czechoslovakia in September 1963.

The commission discussed program of further development of a true international cooperation in the field of the genesis of ore deposits, and decided to hold the next meeting, in cooperation with the Society of Economic Geologists, at the 22nd International Geological Congress in New Delhi in 1964.

Documentation:

J. Kutina: On the establishment and activity of the Provisional Commission on the

The same text was submitted, by the Commission, for publication in the following journals: Geologiya rudnykh mestorozhdenii, World Mining, La Chronique de la Recherche Miniere, Zeitschrift fur Erzbergbau und Metallhuttenwesen, Periodico di Mineralogia, and Vestnik Ustredniho geologickeho ustavu, Praha.

Stage No.2. Transfer of the Provisional Commission to the International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits (IAGOD).

The Provisional Commission on the Genesis of Ore Deposits, established in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1963, discussed its organization for future activities during the 22nd International Geological Congress held in India.

The meeting was in conjunction with the Society of Economic Geologists, at the Vigyan Bhawan Congress building in New Delhi. It was opened by C.F. Park, Jr., Past President of the Society of Economic Geologists , on December 19, 1964, and was chaired by Jan Kutina, Secretary of the Provisional Commission.

The program of the meeting was presented as Circular No.3 of the Provisional Commission, dated October 15, 1964, which was distributed to the Commission members and representatives of the organizations invited to participate (IGC, IUGS, SEG, UNESCO). Minutes of the New Delhi meeting were published in Circular No.4 , on April 7, 1965.

At this meeting the Provisional Commission was changed to the “ International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits” or IAGOD. Provisional Statutes for the Association were approved.

A Voting Committee, consisting of Professor W. Uytenbogaardt, Netherlands, as Chairman, Professor C.F. Park, Jr., U.S.A. and Academician V.I. Smirnov , USSR, proposed the following officers, on the basis of a secret ballot that had been received from 21 members in 15 countries. The officers elected are:

According to the consensus of pre-meeting written discussion, approved at the New Delhi meeting, IAGOD applied for affiliation with the International Union of Geological Sciences. After IAGOD completed preparation of its statutes, its request for affiliation was discussed at the IUGS Executive Committee meeting on January 15, 1966, and approved by the Union. IAGOD was represented at this meeting by Professor C.F. Davidson of St. Andrews University, Scotland.

The objective of IAGOD, as defined at the New Delhi meeting, is to promote international cooperation in the study of the genesis of ore deposits and to further the growth of knowledge in this field. This task will be achieved by means of:

a. International symposia organized under the sponsorship of the Association, or by

the Association, once in a 4-year period between two International Geological

Congresses.

b. Work through Commissions and working groups.

c. Written information distributed by the Secretary to members as Circulars.

d. Enabling national representative and individual membership in IAGOD.

For more details:

J. Kutina: International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits. – Economic

Geology, vol.61, No.3, p.618-621, 1966.

Stage No.3. Development of IAGOD since its establishment in 1964.

Dr. Robert W. Boyle of the Geological Survey of Canada described the development of IAGOD through 1989 by reviewing the creation and aims of the Association, referring to the symposia and giving names of IAGOD Presidents:

An enormous development of the IAGOD occurred since 1989, thanks to the organizational work of IAGOD Council, especially by keeping the membership in touch through a regular, yearly publication of the IAGOD Newsletter giving detailed information about the activities of the IAGOD Commissions, working groups and other events. Special thanks for this work belong, in particular, to Dr. Jaroslav Aichler of the Czech Geological Survey, who served as IAGOD Secretary General through 1999, and to Dr. Reimar Seltmann of the GeoForschungZentrum Potsdam, Germany (now with the

Dept. of Mineralogy, Natural History Museum in London) who served as the Membership Secretary through 2004.

Starting in 2000, the IAGOD Newsletter is edited by the new IAGOD Secretary General Dr. Nigel John Cook (Geological Survey of Norway, Trondheim, now with the UNM/Geologisk Museum, University of Oslo, Postboks 1172 Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway), in cooperation with Jaroslav Aichler, IAGOD Associate Secretary General.

Beginning in April 2003, the international journal Ore Geology Reviews , published by Elsevier, became the official journal of IAGOD, with Dr. Nigel J. Cook as the Editor-in-Chief.

A specific feature of IAGOD which makes it a very powerful international society is the work of its commissions and working groups that proceeds continuously between the quadrennial symposia. Quoting from the IAGOD Newsletter 2003, p.72-74 which also gives the names and addresses of the officers:

Commission on Tectonics of Ore Deposits (CTOD)

CTOD WG1: Global Tectonics and Metallogeny

CTOD WG4: Tectono-Magmatic Activization (Diwa)

CTOD WG5: Remote Sensing Methods for Tectonics & Ore Prospecting.

Commission on Paragenesis (PaC)

Commission on Ore-Forming Fluids in Inclusions (COFFI)

Commission on Industrial Minerals and Rocks (COIMR)

Working Group on Isotope Geochemistry (IGWG)

Commission in Placer Deposits

Commission on Thermodynamics of Ore Forming Fluids

Commission on Ore Deposits in Mafic& Ultramafic Rocks (CODMUR)

Working Group of Skarn Deposits

Working Group on Tin & Tungsten Deposits (WGTT)

Working Group on Ores and Metamorphism (WGOM)

Two of the IAGOD working groups have developed journals providing space for publication and exchange of opinions on the respective topics:

Global Tectonics and Metallogeny. A bulletin published by the Laboratory of Global Tectonics and Metallogeny, Washington, D.C., in cooperation with the Commission on Tectonics of Ore Deposits (CTOD) of the International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits (IAGOD). Chief Editor: Jan Kutina. Printed and distributed internationally

Geotectonica et Metallogenia. Published by the Changsha Institute of Geotectonics, Academia Sinica, Changsha, Hunan, China. – Developed by Academician Chen Guoda, Chairman of the IAGOD CTOD WG 4 “Tectono-Magmatic Activization (Diwa)”, providing space for further development of the studies of the processes of reactivation. The IAGOD also provides the platform for participation in the UNESCO-sponsored IGCP projects and for developing separate projects with International participation. The following monograph may serve as an example:

The names and addresses of all IAGOD members are given in the IAGOD Membership Directory of 2000, among them the individual members of the United States (80), Germany (37), Canada (34), Australia (29), Czech Republic (28).

IAGOD activities as developed since the creation of the Association in 1964, are reflected in the latest version of the statutes compiled by the former IAGOD Chief Treasurer Dr. Richard I. Grauch and approved by the IAGOD Council.

Since April 2003, IAGOD has assumed the editorial responsibility for the international journal Ore Geology Reviews, published by Elsevier. Since 2012 Franco Pirajno is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal.

IAGOD members have free online access to the journal Global Tectonics and Metallogeny, that IAGOD has adopted recently, published in the E. Schweitzerbart´sche Verhandlung. It was founded by the late Jan Kutina and formerly under ownership of the Laboratory of Global Tectonics and Metallogeny, Washington, D.C. and published in cooperation with Commission on Tectonics of Ore Deposits (CTOD).

2018

15th Quadrennial International Association on the Genesis of Ore Deposits Symposium will be organized by the Geological and Mining Survey of Argentina (SEGEMAR) and the Geological Association of Argentina (AGA) in the city of Salta, Argentina, 28th to 31st August 2018

The focal theme for this Symposium is: “Ore deposits: providing resources for present and future generations”.

September 17-20, 2017, Beijing, China. The Society's first annual conference in Asia, will focus on the great deposits of China and neighboring countries, and on the most important new discoveries in this part of the globe.

2014

The XII International Platinum Symposium

Venue: Yekaterinburg, Urals, Russia, August, 11-14, 2014 under the auspices of the IAGOD Commission on the Ore Deposits in Mafic-Ultramafic Rocks (CODMUR) and the Department of Earth Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (DES RAS)Conference website

Venue: Uppsala, Sweden, August, 12-15, 2013. under the auspices of the Geological Survey of Sweden and the local organizing committee. Meeting will be held in the university city of Uppsala. The meeting will take place at the Uppsala University main building within walking distance of most hotels.Conference website

Venue: The conference with field trips will be hosted by the V.S. Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy (IGM) and the A.A. Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics (IPGG), Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (SB RAS) in Novosibirsk, Russia, June 9-23.

Venue: Australia, Brisbane, 5-10 August 2012. IAGOD General Assembly and Council Meeting will take place in the frames of 34 International Geological Congress at Brisbane. The venue and exact date will be announced in June 2012

The topics of symposium will focus on metallogeny and exploration techniques of placer deposits related to paleochannels, and it will provide an opportunity to share the progress and exchange data within framework of the project, also to discuss how to do final stage work and plan future study well. In addition, a field trip will be organized to visit tin placer deposit in Dachang – one of the largest tin mineralization field in the world, and other geologically interesting points in Guangxi Autonomous Region, China.

Within the symposium there will be a session on the "Mining geology, metallogeny and geochemistry of the Black Sea Region: Volcanic-hosted massive sulphide, porphyry copper and gold deposit". The symposium will be followed by a field trip to the Eastern Pontides.

The trip to the Ukrainian Shield will be organized by the Ukrainian group of IAGOD (UkrIAGOD) in the frame of the 33rd International Geological Congress to be held in Oslo, 2008. The participantes of the pre-Congress trip E52 - Geology, Radiological Age, Metallogeny of Greenstone Complexes in the Ukrainian Shield (July 31-August 6, 2008) will visit Kryviy Rig, Dnipropetrovsk and Berdyansk areas to examine volcanic and sedimentary greenstone sequences.

The Geological Survey of Iran, in cooperation with the Earth Science Matters Foundation, organizes the First International Geosciences Conference in Iran, entitled "Geosciences and Politics, Economy & Culture in a Changing World". The International Conference will be held on 18 and 19 February 2014 in Tehran and is back-to-back to the 32nd National Geosciences Conference in Iran (16 and 17 February, to be held on 14 topics, each in another Province; please find all details at: